It happened! Despite the covid doom and gloom - and the naysayers the IOW Festival has just completed. It is a normally a June event but covid pressures meant June was too early to go for and the September date turned out to be well judged by John Giddings and his team.
The event was billed as a sell out - 50000 tickets. To be honest I thought this might have been hyped but as it turned out if it wasn't the full 50k it wasn't far off. In the weeks leading up to the festival there was a fair bit of negativity towards staging the event. To be honest there is always some - even without covid ie disruption noise etc. With covid there was speculation case numbers would mushroom and the only Island hospital would be overwhelmed. For ourselves we did not want to be irresponsible but like thousands of others rationalised we could and should get on with it (life) now vaccinations had happened. It was also an outdoor event and unless you wanted to be down at the front it would be possible to avoid very close contact.
The other factor was the weather prospects - it was September rather than the normal June. In the week leading up the forecasts were poor and on the Monday before there was an almighty deluge - it was going to be a muddy festival. As it turned out there was no mud, no further rain and the poor forecasts did not materialise. It turned out largely sunny - on the Saturday - exceptionally so.
Of the festival - I pretty much go every year. Living on the Island makes it a doddle to attend - and great value in my opinion. Historically the IOW Festival has had tremendous cache based on its deep rooted festival origins and ranked only below Glasto perhaps in status. However in my opinion while Glasto remains stand alone the IOW Festival has lost some of its kudos and drawing power. There are now so many festivals and the IOW has probably become just one of many. Consequently I do not think the IOW is somewhere a band would necessary have on their bucket list as it definitely used to be and the commercial reality is ticket sales cannot be taken for granted either.
In response John Giddings has placed the festival line ups bang in the safe middle ground. There is something for everyone but probably really suits no one. The scale and range at Glasto makes it much more eclectic and edgy. IOW does not have that feel anymore in my opinion.
But as I have written before I am not going to knock the IOW Festival. It is what it is. It is tremendous value and you can guarantee you will have fun if you go with the right attitude. It still draws big acts and it is basically well run (once you get over the strictly enforced commercial rules to prevent you taking food and drink onto the site unless you are camping. Even then you are not permitted to bring anything into the main arena. This year it was £6 a pint). As I have said we are lucky to have it on the Island and I am a committed supporter.
Here was the festival line up :
For us we ruled out the Big Top this year for covid reasons. That left the main stage. Of course what you like is what you like but it was wonderful to enter the site and hear the special big stage sound.
Friday was a mixed bag night but so uplifting to walk into the big arena - with everything there as usual. Despite the negativities and covid pessimisms it was happening and it felt "normal" which is what we needed !!
James are a big time festival band and they went down well. I think the problem for them as is so often the case - they wanted to play their newer stuff but the mainstream audience want to hear their older stuff like Sitdown.
Tom Jones was irrepressible. He loves it - at around age 80 he must. He opened with Pussy Cat Pussy Cat I love you and then Not Unusual! He couldn't fail and he didn't. I am glad I was there.
It was a big step to Liam Gallagher after Tom Jones - too much for some.
Saturday was a superb weather day. Great to be there in the sun - the odd drink and the big festival sound and vibe.
A grumble from me. There is always one or two Simon Cowell type acts on the festival line ups. Definitely some people want to see them. They invariably look good - some in the crowd know their back story. They have had a few 'hits'. But that is it. Invariably the stage is too big for them in my view. Their catalogue too small. They do not have the pedigree. They have not served their time. Keep em off the big stage please until they are ready if they ever will be !!!
And one little amusing observation. Maybe years ago it was not cool to take a chair to the festival. It may still not be "cool" but it is what more and more people do now. Maybe is reflects the age profile - middle England. One thing it has done is effect moving around. Chairs are placed to form barriers - to mark out territory. Such is life - but it is nice to sit down now and again lol. xx
Roachford was smooth - Lightening Seeds went down well. James Arthur for me was one of the lightweight Cowell productions and we missed Sam Fender. I am not sure what happened for him but there was not much applause at the end. All Saints I suppose were fun but a poor mans Spice Girls. I have seen Snow Patrol before. They are a big festival band with a tremendous range. They mixed it up and were what they festival needed. Actually they were joint headliners with David Guetta. I expected Snow Patrol to be last on but they preceded the French DJ. It was the right decision. When Snow Patrol finished much of the main arena audience changed. In poured the youngsters and they filled up the front. Amazing volume and light show from Guetta. Some of it was real hardcore it seemed to me. Prodigy on drugs lol! I wanted to see David Guetta. It had been a long day. He became too much for us. However his set was so loud and bright you were still in it long after you had walked out the festival gate.
Sunday was another good weather day. Highlight in many ways for me on was Seasick Steve. I had seen him before at the IOW. He reminded it was 10 years ago! A class act. Then it was a strong line up - a bit of a walk down the past especially with Supergrass and then Duran Duran. The Script were quality - could have been the headliners. Their show went down well. As for Duran Duran - well they would be easy to knock in some ways. There was a comment in the local paper a week before when there was speculation as to whether the festival should go ahead. Someone wrote "the festival has to go ahead now - Simon le bon is almost defrosted !". They were a long way from my band of choice - but they were great - a tremendous big budget show which I am glad to have seen. It was really enjoyable and like most old rockers he knew how to engage with the audience. Great stuff.
The festival had opened on the Thursday with the fantastic Red Arrows. Few things can make everyone stop and stare in awe. The Red Arrows can. Sends a tingle through you. It finished with fireworks as we left the stadium. Over for another year - it will take a day or two to recover. Thank you IOW Festival. It was great xxx
PS the 2022 line up has been announced already. It has gone down well. Muse and Kasabian will be a big pull and there is Nial Rogers for bop around fun. I have secured the obligatory early bird ticket - something to get in the diary to really look forward to.
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